pennyspoetryfandomcom-20200214-history
Anna Seward
Anna Seward (12 December 1747 - 25 March 1809) was an English poet of the Romantic era.Anna Seward, Encyclopedia Britannica, Encyclopedia Britannica Inc., Web, Dec. 3, 2012. She was often called the "Swan of Lichfield."Anna Seward, Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition (1911). LovetoKnow Corp., Web, Dec. 3, 2012. Life Seward was born at Eyam, in Derbyshire, the elder daughter of Thomas Seward (1708–1790), prebendary of Lichfield and Salisbury, and author. She passed nearly all her life in Lichfield, beginning at an early age to write poetry partly at the instigation of Erasmus Darwin. Her verses include elegies and sonnets, and she also wrote a poetical novel, Louisa, of which five editions were published. Seward's writings, which include a large number of letters, have been called "commonplace". Horace Walpole said she had "no imagination, no novelty."Anon. (1911) She was praised, however, by Mary Scott.The Female Advocate (1774). Between 1775 and 1781, Seward was a guest and participant at the much-mocked salon held by Anna Miller at Batheaston. However, it was here that Seward's talent was recognised and her work published in the annual volume of poems from the gatherings, a debt that Seward acknowledged in her Poem to the Memory of Lady Miller (1782).Bowerbank (2004) Sir Walter Scott edited Seward's Poetical Works in three volumes (Edinburgh, 1810). To these he prefixed a memoir of the author, adding extracts from her literary correspondence. He declined, however, to edit the bulk of her letters, and these were published in six volumes by A. Constable as Letters of Anna Seward 1784-1807 (Edinburgh, 1811). Seward also wrote Memoirs of the Life of Dr Darwin (1804). In an era when women had to tread carefully in society's orbit, Seward struck a middle ground. In her work, Seward could be alternately arch and teasing, as in her poem entitled Portrait of Miss Levett, on the subject of a Lichfield beauty later married to Rev. Richard Levett.Scott, W. (ed.) (1810) A longtime friend of the Levett family of Lichfield, Seward noted in her Memoirs of the Life of Dr. Darwin that three of the town's foremost citizens had been thrown from their carriages and had injured their knees in the same year. "No such misfortune," Seward wrote, "was previously remembered in that city, nor has it recurred through all the years which since elapsed."Seward, Anna (1804). The three victims of the unfortunate carriage accidents were Dr. Erasmus Darwin, Lichfield town clerk Theophilus Levett, and Anna Seward herself. Writing Critical introduction by Elixabeth Lee Miss Seward's poetry belongs to the school represented by William Hayley, and satirised by Gifford in the Baviad. Her work abounds in every sort of affectation. Horace Walpole found that she had "no imagination, no novelty." He classed her with Helen Williams and "a half a dozen more of those harmonious virgins" whose "thoughts and phrases are like their gowns, old remnants cut and turned" (Walpole, Letters, ed. Cunningham, ix. 73). Miss Mitford described her as "all tinkling and tinsel — a sort of Dr. Darwin in petticoats" (Letters, 2nd ser. ed. Chorley, i. 29). Scott was a far more indulgent critic, but he was good-natured to a fault, and was perhaps flattered as a young man by the attentions of a poetess. Johnson remarked to Boswell (25 June 1784) that there was nothing equal to Miss Seward's description of the sea round the North Pole in her elegy on Captain Cook, for which Hayley was believed to be in part responsible. Darwin called her the inventress of epic elegy. At times she shows an appreciation of natural scenery, and now and then turns a good line. Of her epitaphs, that on Gilbert Walmsley is inscribed on his tomb in Lichfield Cathedral; another, on Garrick, was intended for his monument in the same place, but the sculptor neglected to leave space for it. The third volume of the poems contains paraphrases and imitations of Horace, although she knew no Latin.from Elizabeth Lee, "Sewell, Anna," Dictionary of National Biography 51, 280-282. Wikisource, Web, Nov. 12, 2016. Recognition There is a plaque to Anna Seward (spelled "Anne", which is the spelling she used in her will) in Lichfield Cathedral]See the extracts from Seward's will published in The Lady's Monthly Museum, Wednesday, 1 April 1812: pg. 191. Publications Poetry *''Elegy on Captain Cook; to which is added, An ode to the sun''. London: J. Dodsley, 1780. *''Poems; to which are added, Letters addressed to her by Major Andre''. Dublin: P. Byrne & C. Jackson, 1781. * Monody on the Death of Major André. Lichfield, UK: J. Jackson, et al, 1781; New York: James Rivington, 1781. * Poem to the Memory of Lady Miller. London: G. Robinson, 1782. * Louisa: A poetical novel, in four epistles. Lichfield, UK: J. Jackson / J. Robinson, 1784; London: T. Cadell, 1792. *''Ode on General Elliott's Return from Gibraltar''. London: T. Cadell, 1787. *''Llangollen Vale, with other poems''. London: G. Sael, 1796. *''Original Sonnets on Various Subjets, and Odes paraphrased from Horace. London: G. Sael, 1799. *''Blindness: A poem. Sheffield, UK: J. Montgomery, 1806. *''Poetical Works of Anna Seward; with extracts from her literary correspondence'' (edited by Walter Scott). (3 volumes), Edinburgh: James Ballantyne, 1810. Volume 1, Volume 2, Volume 3. Non-fiction *''Variety: A collection of essays'' (with Humphrey Repton). London: T. Cadell, 1788. * Memoirs of the Life of Dr. Darwin. London: T. Bensley, for J. Johnson, 1804. *Memoir, in Memoirs of Abelard and Eloisa (with Alexander Pope & Judith Madan). Newcastle on Tyne, UK: J. Mithell, 1805. *''Monumental inscriptions in Ashbourn Church, Derbyshire'' (with Sir Brooke Boothby). Ashbourn, UK: Parkes, 1806. Collected editions *''The Beauties of Anna Seward'' (edited by W.C. Oulton). London: C. Chapple, 1813. Letters * Letters of Anna Seward: Written Between the Years 1784 and 1807 (edited by Archibald Constable). (6 volumes), Edinburgh: Archibald Constable, 1811. Volume 1, Volume 2, Volume 3, Volume 4, Volume 5, Volume 6 *''The Swan of Lichfield: Being a selection from the correspondence of Anna Seward'' (edited by Hesketh Pearson). London: Hamish Hamilton, 1936; New York: Oxford University Press, 1937. Except where noted, bibliographical information courtesy WorldCat.Search results = au:Anna Seward, WorldCat, OCLC Online Computer Library Center Inc. Web, Nov. 12, 2016. See also *List of British poets References * *Bowerbank, S. (2004) "Seward, Anna (1742–1809)", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, accessed 5 February 2008 * *Constable, A. (ed.) (1811) Letters of Anna Seward: Written Between the Years 1784 and 1807, 6 vols * * * * *Pearson, H. (ed.) (1936) The Swan of Lichfield. Being a Selection from the Correspondence of Anna Seward * * Notes External links ;Poems *Anna Seward (1742-1809] at the Poetry Foundation *Anna Seward (1742-1809) info & 17 poems at English Poetry, 1579-1830 *Anna Seward at PoemHunter (23 poems) *Anna Seward at Poetry Nook (81 poems) ;Books * ;About *Anna Seward in the Encyclopædia Britannica. *Anna Seward at Isle of Lesbos *Seward, Anna in the Dictionary of National Biography * Original article is at Anna Seward. ;Etc. * Category:1747 births Category:1809 deaths Category:People from Derbyshire Category:English poets Category:English women writers Category:18th-century women writers Category:Women poets Category:People from Lichfield Category:18th-century poets Category:English-language poets Category:Poets